Candied Citrus Zest Recipe (like Airheads)

Right in time for Halloween.

I have had this recipe forever

and finally got around to giving it a whirl.

They look just beautiful.

Recipe:

1 pink grapefruit

4 oranges

6 lemons

6 limes

8 cups cold water, divided

6 cups sugar, divided

1. Using a vegetable peeler (I used a paring knife) peel

rind from fruits trying to include as little of the bitter white pith

as possible.  In a large saucepan, cover the zest strips with

2 cups cold water.  Bring to a boil; drain and rinse zest

under cold running water.  Repeat procedure two more times,

using fresh water each time.

2.  Return blanched zest strips to the saucepan.  Cover with 4 cups 

sugar; add remaining 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil; reduce

heat to a simmer.  Continue to simmer until zest is

translucent in color, about 10 minutes.

3.  Remove from heat; cool and drain.  Lay strips on a wire rack

set over parchment paper.  Allow to dry for at least

4 hours at room temperature.

4.  Toss zest in remaining sugar, coating completely.

Transfer to an airtight container.  Store at room 

temperature for up to 1 month.

Warning: when I ate them, I made a

"Kodak face."  I am not the sweet/sour 

sort of candy lover.

My son thinks they are great.

(They resemble the Airhead candy)

Also, when I tried to use a potato peeler,

I had issues so just used a paring knife.

They also make a great centerpiece though

I think they might be gone by the weekend:)

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Trim the Tree & Deck the Halls

What? No Halloween Tree? Gasp!

This weekend, I dug into the autumn time bin and did a little decorating.  Each year, we decorate the tree with all kinds of ornaments, some homemade & some store bought, orange and purple candy canes, & black and orange glass balls.  We string the orange lights on the beautiful black branches and take a breath as we plug them in and see it illuminated against the night.  I am working on a quilted tree skirt so it won't always look quite so bare about the bottom.

A few years back, I found a set of Halloween ornaments & nabbed them as it's not something easy to find.

My daughter made this little purple spider years ago  - you know, before she was cool:-)  Actually, she would probably make it all over again today.

I made several owl in the moon (above) and the little hat (below) ornaments.

When the kids were reeeally little, they loved making chenille candy canes so of course, those will always have a place on the tree.

Oh, but we don't stop there - un uh.

There are signs of the season here.

And here.

Grampa's clock has some company.  Looks a little out of place, but so be it.

Made her many, many full moons ago.

Sweet Otis Ryan always makes me smile.

This year I have a special treat to hang above the wine rack.  If you missed that one, you can click here. 

I love autumn.  I don't so much care about being scary, but I love the nostalgia of the season - the games and traditions of long ago come to surface within my heart, and the crisp breeze blows everyday worries away if only for a little while. Everything is pleasant and good.  Our blessings are abundant, and we are genuinely thankful.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches



The Whole Shabang!

It's probably not proper to begin a post with an apology, but I am anyhow.  One would think by my stage of life that I would have figured out how to take a strait picture, but nope not me.  I am just so good at crooked pictures:)

There is a little something to this quilt that isn't apparent at first glance.  Part of the label reads:

 In this quilt you will find,

Lots of luck of every kind.

13 Hats 13 #13’s 7 Pennies

13 Bats 13 Ghosts 7 # 7’s

13 Cats 13 Spiders 7 Winks

13 Black Pearls 13 Scary Sounds 7 Strands of Jewels

13 Black Blooms 13 Jack-o-lanterns 7 Shooting Stars

13 Brooms 13 Fabrics 7 Horseshoes

13 Full Moons 7 Keys

Okay, so the columns didn't copy and paste just right, but it's all there.  You can find all of those things in this quilt.  If you do the math, that's 218 'things.'

This leeetle guy is my mom's favorite.  She loves that he has his weee leeetle chains to go with him.  She likes the little jack-o-lantern also. I like the black blooms.

For some reason, with each quilt there are things that are just fun and things that are just a challenge.  The spiders in this quilt were a blast for me.  The brooms were my challenge.

Notice the little spider family at the bottom.  You had a bit of a preview of some of these.

You don't want to squish this spider - eeew!  Better just to get the vacuum.

I love these goofy faces.

That would be a broom key not a room key:)

So this has been the object of an hour or two of my time over the past week.  It is heading off to show this afternoon.  Wish me luck.

Until next time,

Nimble fingers & even stitches.

Just a Taste

I don't know if anybody else is this way or if I am just weird, but I don't like to show unfinished work.  They have been lovingly tagged as UFO's or WIP's, but I still have problems in sharing them.  It is not, however, very fair to you that I continue to say working on the crazy quilt or the this or the that and never even give you a glimpse of the project.  Sooo, I am trying to break out of my box - okay maybe just peeking out from a very small hole, but nonetheless, I am showing you a little sampling of where my efforts have been focused for the past few weeks.

I kinda feel like this some days when I look in the mirror.  She was just a fun little addition.

I shared one photo a while back of my favorite little spider.

 By now you can probably guess the theme of this quilt.  I have always wanted to do a Halloween quilt so finally got with the program and am doing it.  It's a hoot to think of the silly things to add.  I don't want it to be a scary quilt, but a happy quilt - one that makes people chuckle when they see it.  Do people still use that word?  Hmmm, I like chuckle. I will share just a couple more pictures then go get busy so I can finish it and show you the whole thing.

Pretty scary huh?

This photo isn't perfect, but you can see that it's one hot cauldron.  I can hardly wait to finish it and hang it up.  It might be up a little longer than Halloween - we'll have to see.

Have a splendid holiday weekend & until next time,

Nimble fingers and even stitches.